A Well-Regulated Militia

By Nicholas Barzetti

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

To the Editor:

Meaning of “well regulated militia.”

The term “regulated” means “disciplined” or “trained.” In [District of Columbia v Heller, 2008], the US Supreme Court stated that “[t]he adjective ‘well-regulated’ implies nothing more than the imposition of proper discipline and training.” In Federalist No. 29, Alexander Hamilton suggested that well-regulated refers not only to “organizing,” “disciplining,” and “training” the militia, but also to “arming” the militia: A tolerable expertness in military movements is a business that requires time and practice. It is not a day, or even a week, that will suffice for the attainment of it. To oblige the great body of the yeomanry, and of the other classes of the citizens, to be under arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and evolutions, as often as might be necessary to acquire the degree of perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well-regulated militia, would be a real grievance to the people, and a serious public inconvenience and loss. “Militia” means the people or citizens and was ruled so in the Heller case.

Our founders demanded of us to be well armed and to practice in the use of our arms to protect ourselves and our country from enemies foreign and domestic. I purchased 22 acres in Newtown so that I may fulfill my duty as an American citizen by practicing with my guns, on my property, to attain the necessary “expertness” to protect my family and country.

Some believe we no longer have to worry about a tyrannical government. All told, many individuals pay over 60 percent of their money in taxes. Last year 6,000 new regulations were imposed upon Americans. When Obamacare is fully implemented you’ll feel the real effects of tyranny. Pay your premium or go to jail and no, you don’t qualify for that hip replacement. We are already living in a post-constitutional America. We are no longer citizens, we have become subjects. Our liberties are vanishing at an alarming rate. Upon inception the income tax was one percent and payment of social security was “voluntary.” Look how far we’ve come. I do not wish to live in Plato’s Republic.

Let us have a common sense, nonemotional, rational debate. These are average deaths per year per category: Military-style “assault” rifles, 18 deaths (mass shootings); semiauto rifles, 453; handguns, 6,009; blunt objects, 674; knives, 1,817; hands, feet and fists, 869; auto accidents, 32,885; drunk driving, 10,839. Eighty percent of those killed with hand guns are by inner city gangs slaughtering each other over drug and turf wars. Society has broken down in our inner cities as a result of liberal policies that have resulted in lawlessness of these poor, mostly fatherless individuals. You cannot buy or possess a gun in Chicago, yet nearly 500 have died in that city last year from gun violence, 68 of whom were children. That is three Sandy Hooks each year in one city. The AR-15 is not the problem, the deterioration of the civil society is.